Quarryfest Deslotmania - Quarry Heights Raceway - Wauwatosa, WI

February 24, 2022

Round 12 of 16

Hayek Victorious In Return Of Deslotmania

Wauwatosa, WI – If you only look at the race results, Matt Hayek survived Quarryfest Deslotmania, an event that was missed last season due to COVID. But, if you were there at Quarry Heights Raceway, you know that Hayek dominated round 12 of the IndySlotCar schedule

The only part of the night that Hayek didn’t win was qualifying - he was second. MisFitz Motorsport's Dan Margetta took the pole as those two drivers were the only ones to crack the four-second barrier with Hayek's #28 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Honda-Daboiler turning a 3.978-second lap and Margetta topping him with a 3.884-second run. The pole was the second for Margetta this season, his first was just two races ago at the Rapids Grand Prix.

The euphoria from winning the pole didn’t last as Margetta was set to race in the first heat against Brad Core, Dean Strom and John Wiedemann. Deslot rule bit early as Wiedemann tallied the three drivers are alloted in the first half, while running second, and was done for the night quickly. Margetta’s luck ran out early in the second half using up the last of his allowed deslots while leading the race. This left Squirrel Shagged Enterprises' Strom to coast to the finish with the heat win and placed Core in the provisional “transfer to the final” spot.

Heat race two started the domination by Hayek as he ran in the lead from flag to flag and was never challenged by Michael Shank-It Racing's Joe Heitz or CBD Racing teammates Pete Dorn and Bill Black. Heitz used up his deslots in the second half leaving Black and Dorn to chase after the lap total their teammate laid down in the first heat. As time was winding down, Black passed Core’s total and took over the provisional transfer spot.

The third heat had the winner of the last race, Mike Kristof, pitted against PenskeHO Racing's Ev Kamikawa and the two slowest qualifiers Steve Rist and Mike Lack. Getting his groove back, Lack jumped to the lead and never looked back. Kristof chased him but used up his three deslots within 38 laps, going from a win in the last event to last place in this one, closing the Michael Shank-It Racing floodgates. Shortly after that, Kamikawa crashed out of the race, leaving the “slow” guys from qualifying. With Lack in control at the front, the attention focused on Rist to see if he could get the transfer spot. While his lap total in the first half wasn’t promising, Rist got on the throttle in the second half and out-lapped Black to take the transfer and make the final for the second event in a row.

Starting the final like he did his heat race, Hayek jumped to the lead and looked unstoppable. Hayek's Angry Squirrel Speedsport teammate Mike Lack in the #27 Napa Honda-Daboiler tried to keep pace but suffered a couple of deslots quickly, causing him to modify his pace. Second place in the Husarsbilt Cup championship standings, Strom had handling issues and used up his limit of four deslots in 39 laps, settling for fourth place. While Lack and Rist paced the track, Hayek was hard on the gas laying down fast laps. A quick pitstop for Hayek sealed the fate of the field, putting the car on cruise control in the second half of the race. A slow stop for Lack, for the second race in a row, and a couple more deslots ended his race in third place. All that was left for Rist was to get through pitstops, which he did with a quick stop, and then pass Lack’s total. As the race wound down, Rist picked up a deslot here and there until the #4 Squirrel Shagged Enterprises Chevy-Daboiler finally picked up his fourth and the race was complete. Even though the race ended early, Hayek was only nine laps off the record total for the event which he had set in 2020.

As per usual at Deslotmania, the deslot rules decimated the field. Of the drivers that didn’t make the final, five of the eight did not finish due to deslots. Of the four who made the final, only one finished.

The win was the second for Hayek this season, folling up his win at the big Black Track oval in Round Five. The nineteenth win of his career has him ninth in the All-Time stats, fifth among active drivers.

The result didn’t do much to the top of the standings. Lack added three points to his lead over Strom which is now at a 37 point difference. Kristof maintains third place but just three points ahead of Black. Wiedemann is in fifth but just a point ahead of Dorn. Hayek with his win moves up to seventh and Rist with his second place run moves up to ninth in the standings.

Up next is the final open-class race of the season at Turtle Creek Park Raceway for the Larry Rotter Memorial Grand Prix. It is a quick turnaround for the series as the race will be contested next week, March 3rd. Wiedemann is the defending race winner. The championship contenders also have won this race four of the last five seasons, Lack three times (2018, 2019, 2020) and Strom once (2017).

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Quarryfest Deslotmania Fast Facts

Race date: Thursday, Feb 24

Track: Quarry Heights Raceway, 2 mile natural terrain road course, Wauwatosa, WI

Race distance: 20 minutes

Twitter: @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2020 race winner: Matt Hayek (No. 15 Alter Ego Racing)

2020 Firestone P1 Award winner: Matt Hayek (No. 15 Alter Ego Racing)

One-lap qualifying record: Matt Hayek, 3.590 seconds, 2020

Race record: Matt Hayek, 265 laps, 2020

YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel

At-track schedule (all times local):

6:00 – Gates open

6:30 – Driver introductions

7:00 – Drivers meeting/Chassis distribution

7:05 – IndySlotCar Series Practice

7:40 – Qualifying for the Firestone P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)

8:15 – Heat races

9:00 – Quarryfest Deslotmania

Race Notes:

· After a one-year Covid related absence, Quarryfest Deslotmania returns to QGR

· Hometown hero Matt Hayek dominated the second event at Quarry Heights Raceway in the 2019-20 season, taking the pole and checkered flag while setting records for qualifying lap and laps turned in the 20 minute final. It was a record setting third win of the de-slot event.

· Michael Shank-It Racing is riding a two race winning streak, the shocking one-two at Rapids where Joe Heitz took the lead, followed by Mike Kristof’s six career win at the brand new Corevette Connection Raceway.

· Mike Lack, who scored one of his four wins this season at the fall QHR event, holds a 34-point lead for the Husarsbilt Cup championship over Dean Strom.

· STATS WATCH: Kristof’s win at the CCGP moves him into solo 16^th all-time. Bill Black’s pole was his fifth, equaling Joe Heitz for 17^th on the all-time list. Steve Rist’s first Heat Win of the season is his fifth, pulling even with Phil Marich at 24^th, the final appearance was his seventh, that ties him with Arnie Lueders in 26^th and Rist passes Rick Osterbrink to move into 25^th in laps with 6,151. Matt Hayek joins the top ten in all-time starts with 192, Pete Dorn celebrated his 100^th start at Corevette Connection Raceway, good for 20^th, Joe Heitz’s 33^rd start elevates him to 29^th and Brad Core’s first hometown race was his 16^th overall, passing Pat Jarvis into 33^rd.

QUARRYFEST DESLOTMANIA HISTORY (8 event, 2013 - Present)

Date Race Winner

1/30/2013 Mark Walczak

2/13/2014 Matt Hayek

2/19/2015 Dan Margetta

2/18/2016 Matt Hayek

2/16/2017 Mike Lack

2/22/2018 John Wiedemann

1/31/2019 John Wiedemann

2/6/2020 Matt Hayek

Multiple Race Winners: Matt Hayek-3, John Wiedemann-2